Written by Ganondox on 17.07.2014 at 06:52he is still the most overrated guitarist ever. The point I was making is that when ever someone says someone is technically more talented than him his fans go on about how is a better composer who plays with so much soul, but half of his well known songs are covers anyway, which is even more ironic because even though he is a racist bastard half of those songs were written by black people.

I feel like your logic is somewhat flawed when it comes to your judgment of Clapton as pretty much every reason you give for thinking he's bad seems based on personal bias.

Over half of his well known songs are covers? Of his top 15 most-listened songs on last.fm, only 5 are covers (Knockin' on Heaven's Door, I Shot the Sheriff, Change the World, After Midnight, and Cocaine as previously mentioned). Not to mention the fact that folk music and covers kind of go hand-in-hand, especially when you're paying homage to someone you consider to be a significant influence on your musical career.

And of course he isn't the most technical guitarist in the world - I think most of his real fans would readily admit that (myself included). What Clapton lacks in terms of technicality, he more than makes up for in delivery, as you pointed out (even though you tried to make this seem like a con). He's far more renowned for his evocative playing style rather than his technical prowess.

And sure, he made some ill-advised comments about foreigners back in the '70s while drunk on stage... Do you really think everyone else from that time was as open-minded as we expect celebrities to be these days? Even if he is a full-blown racist, that has nothing to do with his standing as a legendary guitarist.

Sorry for the long off-topic response. Just thought I'd give my two cents since we clearly have much different views on this subject. I was going to respond to this and transfer it to the Eric Clapton thread but it seems nobody has made one yet. If you'd like to discuss this further it would at least be a good excuse to create a thread dedicated to one of rock's most iconic guitarists.

Written by Ganondox on 17.07.2014 at 06:52he is still the most overrated guitarist ever. The point I was making is that when ever someone says someone is technically more talented than him his fans go on about how is a better composer who plays with so much soul, but half of his well known songs are covers anyway, which is even more ironic because even though he is a racist bastard half of those songs were written by black people.

I feel like your logic is somewhat flawed when it comes to your judgment of Clapton as pretty much every reason you give for thinking he's bad seems based on personal bias.

Over half of his well known songs are covers? Of his top 15 most-listened songs on last.fm, only 5 are covers (Knockin' on Heaven's Door, I Shot the Sheriff, Change the World, After Midnight, and Cocaine as previously mentioned). Not to mention the fact that folk music and covers kind of go hand-in-hand, especially when you're paying homage to someone you consider to be a significant influence on your musical career.

And of course he isn't the most technical guitarist in the world - I think most of his real fans would readily admit that (myself included). What Clapton lacks in terms of technicality, he more than makes up for in delivery, as you pointed out (even though you tried to make this seem like a con). He's far more renowned for his evocative playing style rather than his technical prowess.

And sure, he made some ill-advised comments about foreigners back in the '70s while drunk on stage... Do you really think everyone else from that time was as open-minded as we expect celebrities to be these days? Even if he is a full-blown racist, that has nothing to do with his standing as a legendary guitarist.

Sorry for the long off-topic response. Just thought I'd give my two cents since we clearly have much different views on this subject. I was going to respond to this and transfer it to the Eric Clapton thread but it seems nobody has made one yet. If you'd like to discuss this further it would at least be a good excuse to create a thread dedicated to one of rock's most iconic guitarists.

Eh, maybe you should go do that, explain to me what makes him so special, because I'm not hearing it. Maybe if I listened to more 60's rock I'd reconigize his influence, but now he just sounds like a decent guitarist, not a spectacular innovator or anything, and I can think of countless other guitarists who speak to me more, push more boundaries, and some who are even more technical.

Also, Land of Confusion, the Disturbed version. Didn't know it was a Genesis cover at first.

Eh, maybe you should go do that, explain to me what makes him so special, because I'm not hearing it. Maybe if I listened to more 60's rock I'd reconigize his influence, but now he just sounds like a decent guitarist, not a spectacular innovator or anything, and I can think of countless other guitarists who speak to me more, push more boundaries, and some who are even more technical.

I don't think any of Jesse Owens records still stand today, but that doesn't make him any less an athlete.

which is even more ironic because even though he is a racist bastard half of those songs were written by black people.

Anyway, to stay on topic, I didn't know Judas Priest's Diamonds and Rust was a cover at first.

Yeah but the thing is... J.J. Cale is white. (cocaine)

Also, it's not because YOU don't like a Guitarist that he ain't amazing for someone else. I mean, his reputation seems to prove you wrong on that. But who's half the world in comparison to one Metalstormer right ?

Also, it's not because YOU don't like a Guitarist that he ain't amazing for someone else. I mean, his reputation seems to prove you wrong on that. But who's half the world in comparison to one Metalstormer right ?

Half the covers, Shot the Sheriff and at least one other of the main ones weren't from white guys.

Anyway, we all know how much someone is liked doesn't determine if their quality. Again, he's overrated, and more people liking him just makes him more overrated. The fact he's popular just means that more people know him and have less other guitarists to base their opinion off of. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but one needs to be familiar with a range of guitarists and overcome prexisting notions for their judgement to have any authority. It's all subjective, but for terms of best guitarist in terms of innovation I'd trust a diverse list with some somewhat obscure guys like the SPIN one more than some random guy's list that only includes well-known dudes from the 60's and 70's.

Anyway, someone better make an Eric Clapton thread because this is going way off topic.